Panther Racing Hits Top Speed on Streets of St. Petersburg

Meira Looks for St. Pete Top Five; Indy Lights Drivers Battle for Championship Lead

St. Petersburg, Fla. – After a successful start to the 2008 season, Panther Racing and its trio of drivers set their sights on the Streets of St. Petersburg, site of this weekend’s IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which includes a pair of Firestone Indy Lights races. Panther’s Indy Lights team enters the weekend holding the championship points lead with Dillon Battistini, whose teammate Brent Sherman is close behind in the third position.

Brent Sherman: Knocking Off the Rust

Brent Sherman knows this weekend in St. Petersburg isn’t going to be easy, as the former NASCAR driver transitions back to street course racing after spending a bulk of the past four years in stock cars on oval tracks. After a podium finish in Homestead, where Sherman made a monumental climb on the grid in the final two laps of the race, he knows he’s got to perform his best on the road and street course events to keep pace in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship battle.

Brent Sherman:

“We had the test is Sebring this week that helped knock off some of the rust but we still have some work to do. I know I’ve got some work ahead of me, but I’m not going to be a slouch out here. I raced in some road course events in the NASCAR Busch Series in the past few years, so this isn’t something that will be completely new to me, but it’s a matter of getting comfortable in these open-wheel cars again so I can be competitive. I’m excited to get out there.”